I studied French at school and at university, but lately my knowledge of a foreign language started disappearing. I was short of time for practice, so during my visit to Paris I felt shy communicating with local residents.

To fix the situation I set a goal to find a friend who would be a native speaker for everyday practice. I found Nicholas. He moved to St. Petersburg not so long ago and also was looking for new friends. 4 months we were meeting over a cup of coffee in different cafes and talked about the culture of our countries. Now I feel confident speaking French and Nicholas may surprise his friends speaking Russian with a perfect accent.

I managed to get a green card, so I continued my studies at the University of Minnesota with a degree in "Social Sciences and Management". Encouraged by the prospects of training, I moved to Minneapolis and immediately ran into a problem of language barrier. It turned out that my accent disturbed me when I spoke English.

I realized that the pronunciation could be corrected by the locals. I did not have extra money for a language school. When I decided to ask people to help me I felt awkward. The only the solution was to find Americans who would like to practice Chinese and I could practice my English.

It turned out to be really easy to find like-minded people there.

I flew from London to Berlin for 3 days. Before starting the trip I set a goal to see the most unusual places and make friends in Berlin. Selina and Ditmar were very sociable and in love with their city. For several days they showed me places that could not be found in any guidebook! It was the best adventure of my life! Guys, thank you!!!

In 2015 I graduated from Mississippi State University. I studied there linguistics and specialized in Russian. After graduating, honestly, I didn’t know what to do with it because my specialty in America was not really needed. And then it occurred to me to leave for Russia and try there to settle down. And at the same time to increase my level of Russian.

In 2016 my dream came true and I moved to Petersburg. It seems to me that Russia has stolen my heart. I don’t know if I can leave Petersburg, leave this city... Now here is my house! A lot of new incredible friends appeared in my life, interesting work and beautiful Maria =)

When I worked in a large IT company, one of the conditions for promotion on the career ladder was my knowledge of the German. I gained basic knowledge in language courses provided by the company but to improve my skill I needed regular practice, preferably with a native speaker.

Not so long ago I met Simon who also works in IT companies and who like me needed language practice, but in Spanish. Our first meeting was in a pub in the city center. We did not managed to study but hanged out very well =) But the next meeting we considered seriously. We have been practicing languages together. Sometimes a colleague of Simon Stefi joins us, she knows German better than me and helps us with difficulties.

Since 2014 I have been organizing free group meetings of native speakers in restaurants with those who want to practice languages. As a rule, meetings are attended by 10-20 people who over a cup of coffee practice a foreign language and make new friends. Restaurants are eager to organize such meetings because they get clients and opportunities for their business. To organize a meeting you need to settle everything with a restaurant, to discuss conditions.

Now I use Hi, Jay! to announce these meetings! The application is used by those who are interested in language practice, so it is very easy to gather a group. People who signed up for a meeting can chat in the app ask questions and all the details are added to a smartphone’s calendar.